All Monsters Must Die
by Lozza2402
Summary: What would happen if Jace and Clary bumped into Percy, Annabeth and Grover? Would they get on? How would they handle it as their two worlds collide?
1. Chapter 1: Worlds Collide

**All Monsters Must Die**

 _Jace-_

 _Chapter 1: Worlds Collide_

Clary rests her head against my chest, her mane of red hair fans out around her- strands of it tickle persistently at my nose. I gently brush them away, gazing down at her peaceful face- you'd never think that one so peaceful could be such a skilled fighter. She is definitely a natural- it had taken her a while to master the basics of balance. But at least she doesn't fall down the stairs as much. I brush my battered fingers against her cheek; she squirms a little, a big, warm smile spreads across her face; she murmurs,

"Jace, stop it." I grin. She's amazing. I too settle down to sleep- my eyes however are wide awake; I cannot prevent myself from mapping out the constellations. I remember all the ones Valentine taught me- back when I new him as Michael Wayland. I continue to scan the sky for quite some time before my eyelids finally grow weary. Now I cannot resist sleep; find myself being serenaded to sleep by the birds in the forest around me. It's so nice, having it just me and Clary. Normally, we're hunting with Alec and Izzy. But Izzy is with Simon this weekend; Alec is still working things out with Magnus (from what I know, it isn't going too well). But this weekend it's just me and Clary again; finally we're alone. Concealed away from the hubbub of the city- tucked up on the outskirts of a forest- who would have thought we'd find peace in New York of all places. I have never been to such a city where the mundanes are so openly disrespectful of each other. I'm so glad the New York institute let us handle this demon. I ponder these thoughts as I inevitably fall asleep. My eyes are closed for all of three seconds before I hear it. The trees groan as something huge shoves past them; the branches crack as they are trodden on by something big.

My eyes snap open again; I roll over- so I'm facing the forest's edge. Clary groans as I disturb her sleep, "Five more minutes Mom." she asks blatantly, still entangled by sleep. I shake her sharply, the thing is moving closer. She opens her beautiful, green eyes in alarm as I gesture towards the forest. It takes her a moment, but she soon hears the sounds of stampeding. She joins me as we rise to our feet; dig through our backpacks- looking for our seraph blades. She only recently went through Ascension; can handle her blade confidently- you'd have never guessed she spent most of her life a mundie. I whisper _Adriel_ into mine; it lights up- illuminating the dark forest line. Clary's blade soon flickers on too; we slowly advance towards the tree line. It's getting far closer now; I can just about make out it's outline. How I wish I had time to put on a Nyx rune or at least a Farsighted rune. But my stele is tucked safely away in my backpack; it's too late to draw one now. It hurtles out of the forest and straight towards me. I slide under it as it leaps at me; slice it's leg with my seraph blade. It whinnies with pain; Clary goes in for another attack. She flings herself at the demon- stabbing at it's huge wings with her blade. But the blade bounces of it's bone and not much damage is done. It's wings are too tough for the blade. Plus, I cannot identify this demon- it doesn't look like any I've ever seen. So I rummage through my backpack; grab my nylon rope. I fashion it into a lasso; capture the beast in one swift movement. Clary raises her eyebrow at me, "Seriously, a lasso. What are you a cowboy?" I shrug, I pack just about everything in my backpack. We crouch down next to the thing; attempt to identify it. Clary suggests it as an Eidolon- but I don't think so, an Eidolon would have attacked us with more strategy and skill- plus the seraph blade would have done more damage on it. I pull out my Sensor: it doesn't register the beast.

"So it's not a demon. What are you?" It continues to thrash around on the ground, just as three more figure emerge from the tree line. Clary shines her witchlight at them: the first two appear to be mundanes (a boy and girl) but the third isn't. It has the upper half of a mundane; the lower of a goat, also- upon further inspection- tiny horns protrude through it's curly brown hair. Again, it doesn't appear to be a demon. So I look at the Sensor; still nothing. "They don't appear to be demons either. What are you little goat boy, a Fae?" The goat looks confused and says,

"What in the gods name is a Fae?" So, not a member of the Fae then. Clary suggests,

"A warlock?" again the goat looks confused and shakes it's head. Meanwhile the two mundanes scurry over to the horse. I listen to one as he says soothingly,

"It's alright Blackjack, it's only a cut. We can fix you up back at camp."

"Camp? What Camp?" Clary asks, rather bluntly too I might add. The girl looks up at us- her eyes sparkle with superior intelligence.

"How can you see us?" she asks; I think she might not be so clever after all. Clary doesn't know how to reply. Neither do I for once. The mundie girl asks us, "Do you know who both of your parents are?" I flinch, it's probably just a coincidence, how could a mere mundie know about my predicament? Clary answers slowly,

"Yes, we know both our parents." There's an eerie silence as the girl thinks; I watch the boy beside her. He's got a pen in his hand, curious. He clicks it as though he's going to write on the horse; instead a sword expands out of it; he slices through the bonds. Clary gasps. I however, am thoroughly annoyed now; announce to Clary,

"That's it, I'm calling the Clave."


	2. Chapter 2: Bad Memories

_Percy-_

 _Chapter 2: Bad Memories_

The first sound I hear this morning is Grover chewing noisily on a tin can- he's curled up on the sofa, with his snack stuffed half into his mouth. I roll over in my twin bed; stretch out. The sheets smell like pine trees and freshly cut grass; I breath it in, so yesterday really happened then. We did meet some mortals- they could see through the Mist, how are we going to explain all this? Plus, what the heck is a Clave?! My joints feel all stiff from the cold nights air yesterday; all the standing around talking didn't help either. I slowly massage my leg back to life; I must have lied on it funny, 'cause I've got pins and needles all the way up it. I brush my dark fringe from my eyes, and I notice that my hair needs cutting. I can just hear the mock sounds of disgust from Mum when she sees it- I smile- she'll whisk me away to the local barber's and demand they shave half my head off. I snuggle deeper into my pillow; I miss Mum, and Paul. I drift gently back into my memories, memories of Mum and Paul and me after the Last stand of Olympus, when they both fought bravely to save my world. Their smiles of relief when we reunited fill my mind as I drift back into the embrace of sleep. Until I feel a stroking motion on my back; as my duvet is whipped off of me I'm left exposed to the cold morning's air. I groan with as much attitude as I can muster- I know who it is, and I know what she's going to say before she does. _Come on Seaweed Brain..._

"Come on Seaweed Brain, I think we have some stuff to sort out." she says in her special way which hints that- if you ignore her- she'll dump a bucket of cold ice over you. Not that that's happened to me before... I manage to string enough words together to reply,

"Fine, but n't till breakfas'." I listen as she saunters over to her twin bed; I hear the sloshes of the ice water as she sets it down on her bedside table. She must have gotten it from the mini fridge in the corner, I chuckle, she didn't think I'd get up. Although, I hope we don't get charged for it- I didn't bring enough mortal money to pay much more. But I do love her, despite the fact she would dump a bucket of freezing water on me without a moments hesitation. All my limbs feel like jelly as I roll onto the floor from bed. Slowly, I take myself through the motions of getting up: dressing, brushing teeth, trying to tame my hair and getting some breakfast in my ravenous stomach.  
I hurry down the wooden stairs, they remind me of one of the obstacle courses at camp as they squeak beneath my weight- except you don't have arrows being shot at you via the Apollo cabin...

Soon we're all sat around the B&Bs wooden table, minding our own business; eating cereal. Almost like we'd known each other our whole lives. But I've only known Grover and Annabeth for that long. I definitely don't know these strangers- I don't even know their names! I chew on my breakfast, when...

"Okay first things first, explain your story to us. From the beginning." Annabeth plonks her beloved laptop onto the table. It contains some files Daedalus gave her, as well as all of her architecture designs for the new Olympus she's building (plus a couple of other projects she won't tell me about). I know anything she builds will be great, but she didn't take in any of my suggestions about how she should install a water-slide at the Poseidon cabin. Same, Tyson would really love that when he comes to visit. I watch her, her fingers are hovering over the keys- like vultures- poised to type. The other girl's mouth is hanging open; probably from shock at Annabeth's lack of subtlety- plus you can also see the little pieces of cornflakes in there, which is a bit embarrassing. The boy noticing it too, quickly shuts her mouth and turns back to Annabeth. He clears his throat and in his confident, deadly voice he tells her- like a lion, watching his prey- their story.

"Normally, I am not too eager to divulge the information of our species with mere mundanes, but the Clave has given me (Jace) the task of meeting you. You are clearly not ordinary mortals. Clary and I (along with many others) are part of the Nephilim, basically we're-" Annabeth's eyes are wide and (like an overly excited fangirl which she kind of is) she squeals,

"Half angel! Wow, the Nephilim are real!" The boy fixes her with a hard stare, his amber eyes seem to burn a whole in her face. She mutters an apology. He takes a deep breath and continues,

"The great angel Raziel spared some blood for us; gave it to our ancestor: Jonathan Shadowhunter. Hence, why we are called Shadowhunters. We are stronger, faster than the average mundane; can bare the marks of angels: our runes." He holds out his arm; shows us his 'runes' which earlier I thought were just tattoos. He carries on explaining, "We have been given the task of ridding the world of demons, who are here to destroy the human race. Mundies can't see them normally, nor can they see us when we have put some Glamour on. You shouldn't have been able to see us- we'd just come back from a hunt and our Glamour hadn't worn off yet. Because you could see us, the Clave were even more adamant that we investigate you."  
He exhales slowly, having practically held his breath throughout that last bit. Grover is (like me) completely lost for words. Whereas Annabeth has finished typing furiously and is now ready to ask yet more questions.

"So, if you share the same ancestor, then aren't you and Clary related? I mean, I noticed that you two are... involved." Across the table the others chuckle to themselves. Leaving us sat there in silence while we wait for them to finish. Once Jace has composed himself he says calmly,

"No, we aren't related. Over the years mundies with the Sight, or mundies who have gone on to marry Shadowhunters have gone through Ascension, a trial which people train for- where they drink the blood of the angel and are converted into Shadowhunters. It is a risky process and doesn't always work. However, Clary had to go through Ascension even though her parents were Shadowhunters- because she wasn't marked at birth." I look over at Annabeth and see she is really hacking at the keys now, trying to type as fast as Jace can talk; she seems to be accomplishing this small feat.

Jace appears to be done now and is demanding an explanation from us. So, we tell them, Mr D was reluctant to give us permission, last night when we sent the Iris message to camp, but he did in the end (although he did mention something about grapevines and our throats).

A few minutes later, everyone is caught up. A little confused. But caught up, none the less. Grover is chewing nervously at his second tin can of the day; Clary is doodling on her hand with a biro. Annabeth and Jace however are arguing about each other's stories.

"It's not really possible!"

"What isn't?"

"The fact that someone can sustain having immortal ichor poured into their own blood; survive the transaction there by creating a whole new species!"

"Why not? If Greek gods and Roman gods can be the same people whilst spawning separate camps of children, then why can't the first Shadowhunter survive his honourable gift? Mundanes go through it even now and survive. How would you know how it feels to be touched by the immortal blood? Or to be near such a holy presence?"

"Because I just have okay, we fight gods on a biannual basis pretty much!"

"Oh yes, the gods being defeated by mortals, how quaint."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" I can't be bothered trying to keep up with this anymore. I shuffle over to Clary; sit down next to her. I glance down at her hand, it's covered in a beautiful pattern, flowing lines that join together to create an image of an angel. I nod at her hand,

"Is that Raziel?" she nods meekly, "Have you ever met him?... We've met all our godly parents so have you...?" she nods again meekly,

"Yeah, I met him. It wasn't that pleasant a meeting though."

She turns back to her drawing and starts working on the three little figures cowering beneath him. Okay... I slide back over to Grover and start listening to Annabeth's rant again.

"Well by your logic, mundanes or whatever you call them, could survive a blood transaction with a demon right? Why hasn't that happened yet, huh?" She's in full anger mode. She's fighting for what she believes in again; I can sense Jace isn't going to get the satisfaction of winning- very few people beat Annabeth's logic when she's like this. She smirks at Jace, she's won; she knows it. But Jace doesn't look so sure, he raises his brooding blonde head. He seems to be remembering something, something he doesn't like too much, he then says in a quiet, furious voice:

"Who said it hadn't happened yet?" he is shaking with anger now; he rises swiftly and stalks his way out of the room. Clary takes one look at Annabeth and shakes her head- soon she follows Jace out the room. Annabeth drops her head onto the table, her hair fans around her like a tangle of blond seaweed. She's muttering,

"Stupid, stupid. The first contact with another race of half-godlike people; I hack them off! Stupid, stupid." she continues to smack her head repeatedly on the table. Wow. Someone actually beat Annabeth, she was wrong. I look at her, she is **not** taking it well. Grover murmurs something about needing a new tin can; scurries out the room, leaving me to console her. I wrap my arm around her and tell her everything is going to be fine; how she isn't stupid, she's the most intelligent and brave person I know; how some how we're going to make things right with Jace and Clary, she just has to wait a bit longer.

But I can't help but wonder what memory caused Jace to get so angry...


	3. Chapter 3: Forgiven Feelings

_Clary-_

 _Chapter 3: Forgiven Feelings_

I rush after Jace, Annabeth should have chosen her words more carefully. On the one hand I feel bad for her, this never would have lasted- too complicated. _God I sound like I'm breaking up with her_. My mind is flying almost as fast as my feet are as I run up the creaky, wooden stairs. All the Shadowhunter training must be paying off, as I'm able to catch up with him in a few seconds. Carefully, I place my hand on his shoulder, his muscles tense under my fingers- he must have been so deep in thought if he didn't notice me. Slowly, he turns to face me, despite his outburst downstairs, Jace looks calm; I might even be detecting a hint of regret on his face. He's quiet when he says,

"I should, tell her I'm sorry. That was a bit..." he trails off, so I finish for him.

"Rude, hot-headed, immature. The list goes on," I give him a little smirk- so he knows I'm kidding. He gives me a cheeky grin,

"Always the mind reader Ms Herondale." I smile, glancing up at his face, _I don't think he even realised he said it,_ "Why so smiley, we did just scream at one of the only other half-deities known to man?" _So he didn't realise, aw how sweet._ My face breaks into a full on grin,

"What do **you** mean 'we' you're the one who had a temper tantrum." He wraps his arms around me; pulls me tight, I can feel his muscles through his shirt. He smells of grass trimmings and toothpaste- like Jace. I bury my face into his chest, I just want to stay here. Indefinitely. But we are on the verge of discovering a whole new culture and species of human so...

I break away from his grip, I feel his eyes looking into mine, I could get lost in them forever. "Come on, you need to apologise..." He smirks at me, his eyes are brighter than he was before. He seems better now, so I take his hand and take him downstairs. We arrive in the doorway.  
Annabeth and Percy are huddled up together at the kitchen table; Grover is chewing on some silverware on the loveseat. I can just about see Annabeth's face over his shoulder. Her eyes are red and puffy, _she's been crying,_ I feel embarrassed, because she shouldn't feel bad about this. It wasn't her fault, she doesn't know our past. Jace clears his throat; their heads swivel round to look at this. Annabeth wipes her eyes and says in a quiet, hoarse voice

"Hey, I-I'm sorry about... I didn't mean anything by what I..." Jace raises his hand; she trails off. He shifts uncomfortably for a few seconds- he doesn't normally do this.

"It's not your fault Annabeth, you know about as much about us as we do you. I overreacted, I'm sorry." His voice sounds so calm and collected, _you would think he does this often, but that couldn't be farther from the truth._ I watch as Annabeth's face gives a small smile, I smile back. Annabeth speaks up and says,

"Now that we're all friends again. Maybe we should get to know each other better." _Wow, she doesn't waste much time does she._ I'm starting to like this girl more and more: to the point and smart. Jace chuffs to himself. We enter the room and park ourselves on the couch, they join us. Annabeth pulls out her laptop- there's a weird symbol on the case. I glance over at Grover, who's been sat over here the whole time, he's run out of silverware and is biting his nails. Jace notices this too and says

"Grover? Do you mind **not** biting your nails, cutlery is one thing, fingernails are another." I giggle, if Jace has a top 5 pet peeves, then biting fingernails is one of them. One time he put horseradish sauce on my fingertips (knowing full well, I hate that sauce) to break my habit. Let's just say that method works; now I would never consider even nibbling them. Grover lowers his hands; sits on them, just in case. Jace nods at him, his demon appeased, _but there's a whole lot more demons where that came from_. Annabeth smirks; Percy gives me a look that tells me Annabeth has done a similar thing to him. Annabeth is still typing; without looking up from her keyboard she asks us

"Can you give us some more background on your, um... Species?" Jace chuckles; clears his throat to explain...

Five hours later we are done. In this time the owner of the B&B has passed through twice; the first time he looked totally bewildered by our conversation. That time, Percy explained we were L.A.R.P.E.R.S whatever the heck that is. But it seemed good enough for him; he didn't bother us the next time. Over these five hours, Annabeth has asked us: the origins of the Shadowhunters; our specific equipment, runes and materials; any customs or traditions we may have. In return she has told us the same for their side. The Demigods, or Half-bloods as they prefer. We exchanged stories of how we arrived here: they were hunting a minotaur, apparently he hadn't wanted to stay dead ( _apparently he also likes wearing heart boxers?!_ ). They'd just finished sending him back to Tartarus when they bumped into us.  
Now we've returned to our rooms, Jace is sat on his bed talking with Jia Penhallow (the new Consul) about what has happened and all the new information we have on Demigods. I run my hands through my hair absent-mindedly, as I wonder how Mom and Luke are doing. They only got married recently; I wonder how they're adjusting to married life, _Come on, this is Mom and Luke we're talking about, they're practically made for each other._ I can just imagine them now: snuggled up on Luke's squishy leather couch, down at the farmhouse, with mugs of warm coffee in their hands, as they watch some corny sitcom on the TV. I smile warmly to myself, it's so nice for them to have some peace after all that's happened. Catching me smiling, Jace stands up- still on the phone- and gives me a hug. Eventually he clicks off the phone and chucks it onto the bed. He turns to me

"Now we're alone again..." he says heartily, I grin at him and pull him towards me. Our lips meet in the middle; we embrace each other. His tender grip keeps me locked in place, and we stay there for a bit: lips entwined; locked in a hug. The kiss ends and we stay there, in the embrace. I can hear his heart beating in his chest, it's steady beat like a lullaby, making me feel sleepy. But safe. His muscles are taut under his skin, I can feel them wrapping around me- like a charming snake, _charming indeed._ We are one again- the last time I felt this safe was strangely enough, back in the demon realms. My eyes start to flutter close, his natural lullaby has worked; now I'm ready for sleep. I stifle a yawn; I feel his chest move as he chuckles, "Come on Ms Fray it's time for you to have a rest." I smile into his arms.

"Oh, so it's back to Fray now is it?" I ask, my voice laced with a teasing tone. I tilt my head up to look at him, his features are composed into the definition of confused. "It's just that earlier you called me Ms Herondale." His brows furrow as he looks into my eyes- looking for the lie. He can't find it.

"Did I now? Well we'll see about that _Fray_!" his voice is warm and soothing, but with a hint of humour. _By the Angel, I love this voice._ We shuffle over to my bed and he lays me down, _like Sleeping Beauty_. Reading my mind he says, "You better be nice, or I might not wake you with my magical kiss." Sparkling with cheekiness his eyes look down into mine.

"Since when have I not been kind?" I say as my eyelids close wearily. It's only 8:00pm but it feels like midnight. _I guess it takes a lot of energy discovering a new sub-species_. _I wonder if there are anymore..._ And with that, my eyes close and sleep wraps it's sly tendrils around me. Sending me to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4: A Hunting Trip

_Percy-_

 _Chapter 4: A Hunting Trip_

The sun breaks through the white, cotton curtains; hits me straight in the eyes. I roll over so my back is facing the windows, but I still can't get back to sleep. Admitting defeat I open my eyes, Grover is curled up in bed- snoring as per usual. I can just about see Annabeth through the door that connects our adjoining rooms, she's pacing the room; her eyes brows furrowed. Groggily, I call out to her

"Wise girl? What's up?" she turns to face me- she's not too impressed. Shaking her head, she walks into mine and Grover's room. Her lips are pursed tight, and are going white from the pressure.

"Nothing..." I raise an eyebrow to her, _I know your lying Wise Girl_. She sighs in exasperation. "Fine, I talked to Chiron over Iris message, he took it well" I interrupt her,

"But that's great!" her eyes are full of worry.

"No, that's not all. He said there's, err, some Dracaena are loose near us; they're causing a lot of disturbance with the general public, so our investigation is post-poned until we can send them back to Tartarus. I stroke her arm reassuringly,

"Well, we'll make it quick and ask Clary and Jace not to leave. Or we could ask them to come along?"

"No, they should stay here. It'd be dangerous for them and us if we took them along. Plus we didn't bring any extra weapons, so theirs are basically useless." Annabeth sits down on the hotel's armchair. Her eyes are cloudy- she's deep in thought. _After all, we can't just leave them here until we've come back from dispatching a Dracaena back to the Underworld._ "We could, tell them to wait here, but who knows what they might do say: follow us while we hunt?" There's a deviancy in her plan that could only be hatched by a group of lawyers, _I wonder how many lawyers are gifted with Annabeth's particular... Heritage._

"Well, I guess that couldn't be avoidable, how are we to know if they stealthily follow us? I mean: they are half-angel for the Gods' sake!" Annabeth nods in agreement; she starts grinning ear to ear. I've never seen her be **this** deviant, it's Annabeth! _She's the teacher's pet that all the teacher's want to teacher pet!_ Grover wakes himself up with a particularly loud snore.

"Wa-Wa-What? I'm up, did my alarm go?" Me and Annabeth burst out laughing- Grover's face looks so bewildered it's hilarious. Soon I'm clutching at my sides; rolling on my back. We must look ridiculous, like cartoons brought to reality. I think at some point Grover left the room- maybe to go get another tin can- but we're still going. To be honest I think it wasn't even that funny to begin with, but Annabeth seemed to find it so good- I just wanted to be part of that.

We sit up after a while; wipe our eyes, Annabeth's hair is all scruffy; it looks like a bird's nest. The laughter dies down as someone knocks on the door.

"Come in!" We shout in unison, I smile at her as Jace and Clary walk into the room. Clary's hair is tied up in a messy bun; there are big bags under her eyes. I guess not everyone got such great sleep last night. Annabeth notices too and speaks up- her voice a bit hoarse from all the laughter.

"Hey, Clary are you okay you look a bit tired?" Clary raises an eyebrow in Annabeth's direction, girl code for: _And_ _what_ _do you mean by_ _that_ _?_ Annabeth- clearly not meaning it that way- splutters out "I mean, you have bags under your eyes and you look kind of tired..." She trails off as she realises this maybe isn't the best response. Meanwhile Clary is smirking to her self, _She's messing with her, that's brave, few people get one over on Wise Girl._ Clearing her throat Clary replies,

"Thank you for noticing... they're Gucci." Beside her Jace is trying hard not to wet himself; by now Annabeth has realised that they're messing with him. Annabeth smiles at Clary and Jace,

"Ha! Ha! So very funny. When you're done acting like you're still in Kindergarten I have some news to tell you." Jace chuckles to himself. I can't refrain myself from saying it

"Ooh, watch out for this one, she's got claws!" Jace bursts out laughing; he doubles over clutching his sides. Annabeth turns to face me; her eyes are full of mischief and humour.

"... and a dagger, so watch your back." she winks at me cheekily. Clary laughs sharply, "Back to what I wanted to tell you though. We need to head out for a bit to kill a monster that won't stay down. We aren't allowed to take you but... you could follow us without us knowing and tag along?" Clary and Jace understand almost immediately. "Good, well we're going to head out- so um... stay here?" Clary smiles knowingly and gestures us out. We grab our bags and head out of the B&B. We're heading down the street when Annabeth suggests we stop to see if they're actually following us. So we drop our bags by our feet and scan the area. We can't see anything and for a while we think we actually lost them somehow... And then we spot Clary's bright red hair, bobbing in and out of the crowd. I smile, _she's very stealthy isn't she?_  
We set off again, the streets have gotten very busy recently. There's probably some big sale on. My mind wanders; my eyes drift over to Annabeth, _I wonder if we were normal would she be among this crowd? Would I have ever met her?_ _Probably not._ _Thank the Gods we're not normal then._ I must have been staring for a while because she looks over at me and says, "What are you looking at Seaweed Brain?" I give her a quick smile before checking we're still being followed. _Yup, they're following._  
Annabeth and I turn the corner into an empty alleyway. There's litter all over the floor- despite there being two huge dumpsters on either side- the rubbish crunches under our feet as we walk down the passage. Ahead we can hear the hubbub of an argument: three women, two men and a child. The walls that entomb us are covered in chewed up gum and random graffiti tags. I sniff the air- it smells like alcohol and trash. _Maybe not the nicest neighbourhood to live in._ I glance over at Annabeth; she is looking at me, shaking her head. _She's probably thinking the same as me_. My eyes start to water at a rancid smell that has now invaded the grungy alleyway, it smells slimy and inhuman. It smells like oil and slime: like a snake's skin. I nudge Annabeth and say

"It smells like Dracaena, a few.." Annabeth turns and nods to me. Stealthily, we move out of this alley and into another. Our feet barely make a noise as we tread through the garbage and waste. A rat scurries over my foot and I shudder inwardly, beside me Annabeth chuckles and I hear her murmur,

"Wuss."

We turn another few corners and eventually find the clearing where the Dracaena are supposedly causing a disturbance. Annabeth and I position ourselves at either side of the entrance- which is evidently the only exit as well. I click Riptide open and she unsheathes her sword. It's made of Maeonian Drakon bone and looks terrifying, I remember when Damasen gave it to her, _great_ , _wholesome memories_. From behind me, I feel someone's hand clamp down on my shoulder; Clary and Jace appear next to us. Their eyes are cloudy and confused as they look at the scene in front of us.


	5. Chapter 5: How The Demigods Do It

_Jace-_

 _Chapter 5: How The Demigods Do It_

If it weren't for the terrible smell in the air I'd think these were just people, maybe they are, but Percy and Annabeth seem to think otherwise. Maybe our ability to see through the Mist isn't all that strong, because all the monsters around the corner just look like ordinary (yet creepy) people. Not to Percy and Annabeth however; the pair of them are staring intently at the strange collection of people in front of us; their weapons brandishing next to their sides. I turn and stare at the hubbub of noise ahead. There are: a young child, two teenage girls and three older women. The two girls and one of the older women are sat around an oil drum, a deck of cards spread out in front of them, and the two women are stood in front of a big metal door. The little kid is stood cowering underneath them; they're glowering and shouting at him. Their voices are raspy as they yell,

"We already tol'ya, no entry unless ya make an appointm'nt with Mr. O yerself. Now bog off!" quaking with fear the little boy runs towards us; Percy pushes Clary and me behind the dumpster as the two of them all dive into the trash. The kid runs past us, his tiny feet pitter-pattering into the distance.

I look back at the others. The two women stood by the door are large (all of them are, but these two are considerably obese) they're wearing tatty suits which ,because of their ample frame, stretch grotesquely over their stomach. They both have grease-covered, stringy hair tied into a ratty ponytail. I force myself to look up at their faces, their mashed, ugly features are identical. _Huh, Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee._ The other women isn't identical, but is just as repulsive- she's wearing a ripped ball gown. Most of the sequins have fallen out and the skirt is frayed to the Demon Realms and back; _I should know_. I glance at the two girls; they're wearing matching cheerleader outfits, their matching pigtails are tied up with two silky, blue ribbons (which are suspiciously spattered with red). The one on the left's pigtail is uneven; perched at an awkward angle on her head. I can't help but think that they look like an odd gang of people to be hanging out, playing cards in an alleyway.

Annabeth swivels around in the garbage and whispers to us as quietly as possible,

"They're guarding something" she looks directly at Clary and me "have either of you two heard of Mr. O?"

"No, sorry, never heard of him." I glance back at them, to see that they've resumed their positions outside the building. Percy shuffles around to face us, he motions towards the clearing

"Okay, we're going to send these suckers back to Tartarus, can you guys just... wait here?" Clary must not have caught on yet because she asks,

"But those are people aren't they? Sure they're nasty and can't dress right, but you can't just... kill them." Annabeth gives Clary a sympathetic smile.

"They aren't human Clary, it's the Mist remember? Oh well, I guess we didn't explain it all that well. Three of them are actually Dracaena- a kind of monster; the other two are Empousai. The Mist just stops the mortals from seeing them. They actually look pretty hideous."

"Oh." Percy and Annabeth shuffle towards the pair by the oil drum. They've finished their card game and have started a row with one of the on-duty women. Percy and Annabeth make it to the first Empousa before they're spotted. Tweedle-Dum shouts out

"Oi! What're you doin' 'ere ya little runts?!" the other monsters all turn around to face Percy and Annabeth "Clear off!" The two of them hold their ground and brandish their swords at the monsters. The two Empousai tilt their heads flirtatiously and stride towards Percy.

"Hey there, why don't you put that big sword away and we can... Talk." Annabeth snorts next to him and tells them in a deadly calm voice,

"Sorry ladies, but he's taken." They hiss at her, their face contorts into one of seething anger. Their eyes flash with a red, demonic glow, unfazed Annabeth says,

"Well **that** wasn't very attractive."

You can tell that the one on the left ( _the one with the lopsided pigtails)_ is going to make a move, she looks too peeved off for her own good. My prediction is correct, as she tries to rush Annabeth, lunging forward with only her nails, which have now grown to be deadly sharp. Not for one second does Annabeth look worried, or scared, she just steps to the side and swipes her sword; it connects with the Empousa's left leg- it slices cleanly through her. As it falls to the ground I can see that it was in fact a donkey's leg, it's shaggy grey fur matted with blood and what looks like motor oil.  
 _If that's one limb, I wonder the rest of them look like? _I shudder inwardly, something tells me these tatty cheerleaders are just a cover up; they look much worse. Seconds later both the leg and the first Empousa have turned to dust. Meanwhile, Annabeth wastes no time and lunges with her sword, plunging it straight into the second Empousa's chest. Disappearing with a puff of dust, the girls are gone. The Dracaena (the one who's wearing the tatty ball-gown) charges at her, _well it's more of a lumber_ , but none the less she moves towards Annabeth. Gracefully, Annabeth rolls to the side, allowing Percy to take this one. He flicks his celestial bronze at the beast. Dust explodes everywhere, coating the walls of the alley. Cautiously the final two shuffle towards Percy, _too right they're cautious._ At some point during this speedy battle, they've lost their deadly weapons. If I squint I can just see the broken spears littered in the corner. They're each holding a pathetic little knife; I chuckle to myself, _that wouldn't do much damage to a block of butter_. Percy blocks their feeble attacks with ease; Annabeth sits back and lets him fight. He's definitely winning. He slices straight through the two of them in one final, swift movement; they disintegrate too.

They turn to us and call us over. Clary and I stretch out and wander over to the pair. They've got dust spattered across their clothes, and, although they're panting a bit, they are unharmed.

Clary laughs inwardly; her tone is filled with admiration, wonder and amazement.

"Those monsters didn't stand a chance did they? You're extremely well trained to say the least." Annabeth smiles and gives Percy a little nudge,

"We've been in this business for while, you tend to pick up techniques as you go along." Percy nudges her back, a little harder, but playful.

"Ah, Annabeth's just being humble." Clary and I start to chuckle, they're cute in a _could-slit-your-throat_ kind of way. I clear my throat, which is a bit hoarse from all the dust floating around,

"Well, props to you two, but what were they doing here? Surely they wouldn't just be standing around for the thrill of it, not with you two in town anyway?"

Annabeth nods, furrowing her brow.

"You make a good point Jace... Let's find out then."


	6. Chapter 6: Not Quite Over

_Clary-_

 _Chapter 6: Not Quite Over_

The other three walk to the door, but I hesitate... There are voices- whisperings. Apparently the others don't hear them, Jace turns around, then Percy, then Annabeth. Jace raises an eyebrow,

"What is it Clary? Come on." I turn back to the exit, then to Jace.

"I can hear a noise, on the other side of that door. Don't look at me like that, just, listen yourselves." Annabeth, Jace and Percy seem wary at first, but then they press their ears to the big metal door and hear it too. It doesn't sound human, it sounds like chanting, but in a language we can't make out. Finally Percy asks the elephant in the room,

"What are they saying? What kind of language is that?" We don't know, for a few minutes we just stand there, listening, thinking. _Oh, that could work_. Without a word I reach into my boots and pull out my stele. Holding out my other wrist I begin to draw a Speak in Tongues rune. It feels good to have my stele back; to be using it again. The rune flows out of it and onto my skin- it burns a little, but not too much. I've gotten better at using the more powerful runes, since training at least. My ears tingle and the voices clear up. I gently press my ears against the big metal door. Muffled sounds become words, and words become a conversation:

 _When's the Boss coming?...I don't know Herse, just wait until he comes...Sorry Father, it's just I don't understand why we have to stand here guarding this hunk of junk...You'll do as you're told Herse, okay? Just wait, The Boss will come, and then we'll raise the ultimate army!...Okay Father, if you're sure..._

I turn back to the gang, my ears feel chilled from where I'd pressed them against the door. Motioning for them to be silent, I whisper

"There's something in there. Two monsters at least, they're waiting for 'The Boss' and are going to build 'the ultimate army'. W-what should we do Percy?" I turn to him, after seeing him in battle, he seems like the most qualified here (aside from Annabeth). He ponders this for a minute, his eyebrows furrowed and worried lines dart across his forehead. He turns to face Annabeth,

"Maybe we should get a message to Grover, back at the B and B. He could call for reinforcements." Annabeth considers his point,

"Well, if Clary is right and there is only two monsters in there, we could take them; prevent 'The Boss' from getting his hands on this army." Jace nods, he likes this tactic; we might not be the most informed about the world of the Greek's, but we do know how to fight. Then I remember we have no weapons.

"Uh, 'scuse me Jace; Annabeth... we don't have any weapons."

"Good point, let's give Grover an Iris call then, I think he might have a spare knife on him or something."

Fifteen minutes later, Grover met with us in the alley. He has a sack slung over his shoulder- like Santa.  
"Hey guys, I brought presents." he wiggles his eyebrows jokingly; I giggle. Once he's opened the bag, Jace and I dig in. I pick up a long, thin blade that fits well with my pudgy hands, and Jace- being himself- picks up a small, sharp blade that resembles a Roman gladius. Curious I say

"Um Annabeth, is that a gladius?" she smiles knowingly

"Yeah, we met up with a roman camp a while back, they left some stuff behind." Jace raises an eyebrow- Romans and Greeks? The world just got a whole lot more confusing. But I stop with the questions and nod.

"Is everybody ready?" Percy asks- I notice behind me Grover has picked up a special looking bludgeon. Annabeth, Percy and Grover move together in sync- like they'd done this a thousand times. Jace, being just about the best Shadowhunter in the business, got into their sway: moving in time, stepping with them; with a serious look on his face. Being a bit inexperienced in this area of combat- seeing as this is from a totally different culture of weirdness and monsters- I just shuffle awkwardly behind them. Eventually we come to a room, and my blood runs cold. Stood before us are two of the most terrifying things I've ever seen...


End file.
